Leftists Infiltrate Maon, Nationalist Arrested

Jewish man from the Hevron Hills complains that police overlooked left-wing and Arab provocations, arrested him for defense.

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 9/23/2012, 7:29 PM

Leftist anarchists (illustrative)

Flash 90

A Jewish man from the Hevron hills is in jail for attempting to defend his community, his attorney argues.

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir is representing the man, who was arrested after a confrontation with far-left activists near the community of Maon, where he lives. The far-left group was attempting to enter the community when the clash occurred.

Ben-Gvir dismissed charges that his client had attacked the leftist group, arguing, “If the young man had attacked them, we know from past experience that there would be footage of some sort of attack.”

The man’s remand was extended by two days on Sunday. Judge Dorit Feinstein turned down a police request to extend the remand by six days, but did keep the man in jail, noting in her decision that he had been walking around with his face covered and had carried a stick, leading to suspicion of involvement in criminal activity.

Covering one’s face is not a crime, even in Maon, Ben-Gvir said. “What I find more problematic is that far left activists are coming to Maon to make provocations, and the police saw fit to bring only the right-wing man to court."

“It cannot be that when the right wants to walk in Umm el-Fahm they need a permit, but the left wing can go onto hilltops, stir up conflict, and not be called to explain themselves,” he added.